As the dust settles on this year’s unwanted early federal election, a few oddities have appeared from the results. One of the most notable is the ongoing strange political career of Spadina-Fort York’s newest independent MP, Kevin Vuong.
The embattled MP has been stumbling along since being dumped by the Liberals two days before the election for failing to declare dropped sexual assault charges; yet still winning due to many having already voted for him in advance or by mail.
This has made for some tumultuous times in his riding, with constituents complaining they have not been able to contact him and his social media awash with calls to resign.
Recently, things got heated when Vuong used a local business’ call for help with a government issue as a photo opportunity. This prompted swift condemnation on social media, forcing the business to disassociate themselves from the MP.
At the heart of the issue is the fact our winner-take-all system means the residents of Spadina-Fort York are now stuck with Vuong as their sole representative in Ottawa and have no choice but to deal with him whether they want to or not.
In a Proportional Representation system, voters would have multiple options for who they could deal with on government matters. In an STV system, voters would have multiple local MPs, and in an MMP system, voters would have wider regional MPs they could go to.
Of course, while Vuong has the unique distinction of being an MP almost no one in his riding wants, the fact is our winner-take-all system means large swathes of voters across the country have no representation either.
Regardless of which party you support, at the end of the day if you did not get the representation you voted for then you are just as unrepresented as the people of Spadina-Fort York.
This is why we need an electoral system that gives people what they vote for and not just hope that whoever is elected will have your best interests at heart.
Tell the Ontario NDP and Greens to show leadership on electoral reform!
Send a message to Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, Ontario NDP Democratic Reform Critic Peggy Sattler, and Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner asking them to say NO to winner-take-all ranked ballots and to show leadership on electoral reform!
Click here to send your letter
Webinar Alert | Alternative Vote: A solution to the democratic deficit?
Join us Saturday, Nov 27th at 2:00 pm EST for a webinar on the risks and consequences of the Alternative Vote (non-proportional “ranked ballot”). We’ll be joined by electoral reform expert Antony Hodgson, president of Fair Voting BC, who collaborated with Byron Weber Becker (University of Waterloo) on a series of simulations to quantify the degree of inequity produced by various voting systems, including the Alternative Vote.
Electoral Reform in the News
Proportional Representation continues to make the news as more Canadians wake up to the sorry state of our democracy. Here is a sample of what is being said:
There’s a Citizens’ Assembly underway in Canada right now. The 2021 Citizens’ Assembly on Democratic Expression began on October 9, bringing together 42 Canadians from every province and territory to participate in a virtual forum to consider “whether and under what circumstances legal penalties [sic] or other consequences should be applied against individuals or organizations that knowingly spread false information online with the intent to cause harm.”
This is the second of three Citizens’ Assemblies on Democratic Expression, with the first happening in 2020 and the next one taking place in 2022. Each Assembly produces a public report of recommendations compiled by the citizen participants.
The 2021 Assembly will see participants convene for a total of more than 40 hours to cover:
- The principles of democratic expression and digital technologies’ social impact
- Canada’s existing regulations and institutions that safeguard democratic speech and the public interest
- The effectiveness of these regulations and institutions
- Other countries’ responses to changing forms of democratic expression
The participants will then produce consensus recommendations for how the federal government and industry should go forward safeguarding democratic speech and the public interest.
It’s on vital issues like this, which affect all Canadians, that make Citizens’ Assemblies an essential part of a robust democracy.